The ACCC could take Volkswagen to court if Australian cars are proven to have its emission test ‘defeat’ software.
Chairman Rod Sims noted that use of ‘defeat devices’ broke Australian Consumer Law by breaching mandatory safety standards.
“As the enforcer of the ACL, the ACCC can take action against any corporation that has breached mandatory standards,” he told The Australian.
With the global diesel emission-cheating scandal already seeing heads roll at VW headquarters, including now-former chief exec Martin Wintercorn and several top engineers, many owners of Volkswagen and Audi vehicles in outside the US and Europe have been left scratching their heads.
Volkswagen Australia is yet to clarify to its customers whether their cars are part of the sweeping recall of offending vehicles, which will reportedly mean new diesel engines in some markets; or if the software running in their cars’ ECUs features the emissions defeat .
NewsCorp reports that a former VW Australia executive, who won’t be identified, has said that if VW provided documentation on its cars that was proven to be false, tens of thousands of cars could, theoretically, be taken off Aussie roads.
The vehicles would potentially no longer meet requirements to be registered for use in Australia – although such a drastic move, the source says, would be highly unlikely.
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